Eye Care to Prevent Strain

When we are working on a computer, we tend to be focused and that most likely means we are not blinking our eyes which can cause dry eyes. Simply, spending a moment to blink 20 times as fast as you can may immediately provide your eyes relief. Read below for more tips on how to keep your peepers healthy.

5 Tips and Eye Exercises for Eye Strain Relief
  1. Eye exercises:
    • Palming: Rub your hands to create warmth, and cup the palms of your hand over your closed eyes.
    • Look away from monitor: 20-20-20 rule (Every 20 minutes look at an area 20 feet away for 20 seconds).
       
  2. Wear sunglasses.
  3. Use blue light protection glasses. Read more about "blue light" below.
  4. Visit your eye doctor.
  5. If you do wear glasses, ensure your glasses come with blue light protection.
  6. If you wear contacts, alternate with glasses a few times per week.
  7. Adjust your smartphone's settings:
    • Increase contrast.
    • Increase text size.
    • Adjust brightness. It shouldn't be lighter or darker than your surroundings.
    • Decrease color temperature. That means it will give off less blue light, mentioned below.
    • Increase refresh rate. That will cause less flickering of the screen.

  8. Use an eye protection cover on your smartphone (and get the warranty).
  9. Keep devices an arm's length away.
  10. Use an eye care computer application. A few options are listed below.
  11. Use proper lighting (adjust brightness levels, ensure your workspace is well lit but also not incredibly bright).
  12. Have eye drops on hand to relieve dry eye.
  13. Try a humidifier and keep it in the same room as your workspace.
  14. Make sure that the top of your screen is eye-level or slightly below eye-level to reduce strain.
  15. Blink more.

Blue Light

The visible light with the highest intensity is blue light, and just above it on the spectrum is UV radiation. One concern is that, because blue light is so close to UV radiation in wavelength, it might be similarly harmful, particularly to our vision. The screens on our electronic devices may not emit light anywhere near as bright as sunlight (which contains both blue light and UV radiation), but the time we spend staring at our screens is time we spend exposing our eyes to blue light. Try blue light protection glasses to prevent eye strain, improve sleep, and overall eye health.

Research Blue Light Lenses on Amazon.com

Eye Care Applications

Refocus logo
Refocus by JELP
Gives you unobtrusive periodic reminders every ~15 minutes to take a quick break from the computer, or whatever you are working on. It works in the background so you can continue working on whatever you want. (PC only)
EyeLeo logo
EyeLeo
EyeLeo is a handy application that regularly reminds you to take short breaks for your eyes. (PC only)
Workrave logo
Workrave
Workrave is an application that reminds you to take breaks throughout your workday, and sets a daily limit for computer use. It can also show a number of simple exercises that can be done behind your computer at the start of each rest break. (PC / Linux only)